Creation began on 07-22-18
Creation ended on 07-26-18
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Ultimatum and Darkness
There was just one last stack of crates that needed to be packed onto the carrier before the Survey Corps was ready to travel to Marley and carry out the first part of their invasion plan using the Evangelion…when Armin looked up and saw a sight that frightened him.
"What are those?!" He yelled, and Shinji and Kaede looked up.
VTOL aircraft, at least thirty of them, were flying in the air away from Paradis.
"Are they from your world, Shinji?" Kaede asked him.
"Unfortunately, yes," he answered back, and then ran to activate his Eva.
-x-
Thanks to the satellite reception in the other dimension, NERV was able to establish a stronger connection with the cameras installed in the gunships sent to Paradis to deliver the ultimatum to the Eldians. The staff within Central Dogma watched as Evangelion Unit-01 activated and stood on the edge of land beside the carrier.
"Deliver the ultimatum," Gendo ordered.
-x-
Inside the plug, Shinji was receiving a transmission, and answered it.
"State your business," he uttered.
"This is the JSSDF," a man on the other end revealed. "Is this the Third Child of Evangelion Unit-01 that we're addressing?"
"Yes," he answered, making sure he was broadcasting this conversation for the Survey Corps to hear, as he wasn't going to hide secrets from them. "Or rather, I used to be before I defected. I am Shinji Ikari. What do you want?"
"Under orders from Commander Gendo Ikari of the paramilitary agency NERV, you are hereby ordered to surrender yourself and Unit-01 over to the JSSDF within the next forty-eight hours. In addition, you are to surrender the girl Kaede Sogen."
Shinji looked at the deck of the carrier, at Kaede among the Survey Corps, and then back at the aircraft with a frown.
"I can't speak for Ms. Sogen…or anyone else, for that matter," he stated, "but what is to happen if I refuse to follow your demands because I defected from NERV and have sworn my loyalty to the people of this island?"
"Commander Ikari has given this ultimatum," the man responded. "Either you surrender within forty-eight hours…or we will use N² weapons to eradicate as much of the island as possible, along with everyone on it."
Shinji's eyes widen as his mouth hung open. This was the worst his father had attempted by far. If he couldn't get back the Eva or have Kaede's Dark Titan, he was going to commit genocide on an entire island with the same weapons that were meant to face the Angels.
"You should just surrender, kid," another male voice told him. "It's nothing personal from the JSSDF, but even you must know that as powerful as the Eva is, it can't protect an entire island from over thirty N² bombs. It's impossible."
He looked over at the carrier, at Kaede and the others again, wondering what they were thinking about him now. Should he give in and go back with the JSSDF…or stay and accept the inevitable? As their hope from the sky, he didn't want to be their cause of suffering, even if it meant that he himself would be the one to suffer.
"How do we know that even if Shinji surrenders, none of you will get the idea to do away with us still?!" He heard Armin yell over a large megaphone atop the island of the carrier. "We only know about his father from his point of view, and the guy has no morality, whatsoever! For all we really know about this ultimatum, even if he does surrender and return with you, his father will have you kill us all the same, just to get back at him!"
-x-
Misato, Kaji, Fuyutsuki and several others in Central Dogma turned to face Gendo after hearing that possibility. Ever since the discovery that he was going to use the military to try and force his son to surrender, not many of them were willing to agree that such a strategy was the best choice.
"You'll just have to trust us, then," the JSSDF member over the transmission stated.
"I believe you pretty much burned out any capacity to be trusted the last time your people came here and had that redhead girl threaten the people here with her behemoth if we didn't do as ordered," they heard the voice of Kaede as they saw her using the large megaphone to converse with them. "Why can't more people like you be like how Shinji is?! He's not trying to hurt anyone here, yet you're trying to hurt him by attacking the very people he swore to protect! He gave us back our freedom, our hope for a better tomorrow, and you, people like that redhead girl with the bad attitude, or even his heartless father, you just want to take back the hope that he's given…and for what?! For power?! What good is power when it's all that you want?!"
"Ma'am, this is the ultimatum that was given by his father," the man expressed. "We're just following orders."
"Yeah, that's what you say. You just follow orders. Everyone seems to use that as an excuse to justify their actions against others, that they were just following orders. Except that it's a lame excuse! You can't justify yourselves for doing this! His father, this group called NERV, and by extension, each and every one of you…can't be trusted, no matter what you say!"
On the screens, they could see Shinji's expression within the plug shift as the sense of realization had made itself known to him.
"My father's ultimatum isn't an ultimatum at all," he spoke up then. "A man like that, a person like him…will carry it out, even if he does get what he wants from those that have whatever it is that he wants. He's not looking to negotiate with anyone unless it's on his terms, and we can't agree to his terms. I will not agree to his terms. If there's any morality left in his heart, he'll come here to speak with the monarch I serve to try and settle this without the need for violence. If you can go back and forth between this world and the other world, then he should be able to come here and speak with the authority that now governs me and the Eva. But I doubt he'd do even that without sinking to the level of a coward. This island has become my home…and if need be, it'll be my grave."
Then he terminated the transmission, and Central Dogma was in silence.
"I can't believe he just said all of that," went Asuka. Is that idiot truly willing to risk everyone's life over there just to stay?
Gendo, on the other hand, had balled his fists and bared his teeth in anger over the mere idea that his son had suggested that he couldn't do something as simple as speak to the authority over there without doing something to indicate cowardice.
-x-
Forty-eight hours. That was the time they had to agree with the demands of the JSSDF and NERV before they went ahead and dropped their bombs on the island to kill as much of the people there as possible.
"And…your father is the one that gave you this ultimatum?" Historia had asked Shinji, an hour after the VTOL aircraft had departed from the island's airspace.
"Yes, ma'am," he responded, kneeling in front of her.
"And what is it that you think of it?"
"I believe that, even if I do hand myself and the Eva over to them along with Kaede, they'll kill everyone, regardless. So…I can't let either happen."
"But they said that the Eva, despite being powerful, is useless against all their bombs," went Ymir, standing beside Historia on the throne. "Would it be suicide if you tried to defend against that many?"
"Yes, it would."
"But…you would give your life for the people here, regardless…right?" Historia asked him.
"I would," he answered her.
"Shinji, I must ask you this next question with honesty. How soon would it take to evacuate all of Paradis before forty-eight hours have fully passed?"
Shinji raised his head up to face her, surprised that she would even ask that question.
"My queen, it is impossible," he answered her with honesty; he knew it was impossible to evacuate the entire island because everyone was spaced out across it, even if he had the power of the Eva to shorten the time it took. "If everyone hid underground, some of them might survive, but not everyone will. I have seen what N² bombs can do, and there's no escaping them unless you're far away from where they're dropped and detonated."
Kaede, who was present beside Shinji, raised her left hand for permission to speak.
"Kaede?" Historia spoke.
"My apologies if I sound out of turn for saying, Your Majesty, but you, the Garrison and the Survey Corps, along with the orphaned children, should be evacuated off Paradis," she suggested; if she and Shinji couldn't save everyone, then they should at least try to save as many of the people as they could.
"You're forgiven, Ms. Sogen, but I can't abandon the people, either."
"But so long as Eldia has you, Eldia will still have a future."
"Even if that were so, without either of you, there is no hope in that future."
They were at a stopgap at best. They each knew that Shinji couldn't save them all, even with Kaede to help, and Historia wouldn't abandon everyone to survive without them, her advisers and friends.
I'm sorry, everyone, Shinji thought, wishing there was a way to save them without surrendering.
-x-
"Rei?" The albino girl heard Dr. Akagi as she stood in front of Unit-00 in the cage, and turned to face the faux-blond woman.
"Commander Ikari…is going through with the plan to reclaim Unit-01, isn't he?" Rei asked her.
"Yes, I'm afraid he is," Ritsuko answered her.
"Even if Ikari-Kun does surrender himself and the other girl, this Kaede Sogen… Commander Ikari will still harm the people they have sworn to protect from harm, won't he?"
"It's…starting to look that way."
"Why do you pilot the Eva, Ayanami?" She remembered Shinji once asking her.
"Some of us are hoping Shinji will do the right thing and surrender," Ritsuko stated to Rei.
"He uses the Eva to give the people hope," she uttered.
"What?"
"He used to want Commander Ikari's acceptance, but now he no longer wants that. He only piloted the Eva because everyone expected him to, but now he no longer listens to the authority here. The people there see him as hope, the Eva as a symbol of their future. It's one that he just gives freely, without any sort of compensation or expectance of an award or praise. Even if Commander Ikari does reclaim the Eva and the girl that can turn into a giant, he'd be the one taking away their hope, their future…and NERV would be helping him to do that."
"That's just the harsh reality of the situation we're in, Rei. Shinji defected from us and took the Eva with him. In essence, he's a war criminal and has to be reprimanded to the full extent of the law for his choices."
"And the girl that claimed his heart over there? Is she to be reprimanded also?"
Ritsuko was surprised to hear Rei ask these questions. It wasn't every day you would hear something like this being asked. While they knew what was to be expected if Shinji was returned, but the fate of the Sogen girl was clear to her: Experimentation and dissection.
"You don't agree with what Commander Ikari intends to do, do you?" She asked Rei.
"I…I do not agree," Rei answered. "Ikari-Kun may have defected from NERV, but threatening to harm the people he chooses to protect, even if that means throwing his life away to do so, is not the right way to reclaim Unit-01 or take possession of the Sogen girl…and Ikari-Kun will not forgive us if they are harmed."
-x-
"…I knew I'd find you out here," said Kaede to Shinji, finding him on the deck of the carrier, sitting in front of Unit-01 at night. "Where's everyone else?"
"I don't know," he responded. "Probably down below eating. I excused myself from their presence after getting their dinner set up."
She sat down beside him and looked up at the Eva.
"I spoke with my parents this evening," she told him.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, they're scared of dying. Everyone is. But they don't know if those people will kill us all, regardless of whether we surrender or not, and that's what frightens them the most."
"I'm sorry I got y'all into this mess."
"It's our mess, Shinji; they're after me, too. If they're threatening you with the lives of the people here, then they're threatening me, as well. We're both in this together."
Kaede soon laid her down on the deck beside him, looking up at the sky.
Shinji looked down at her, wondering what she was thinking right now.
She turned to face him and just smiled.
"In the end, I'll still walk beside you, Shinji," she uttered.
"Huh?" He responded, confused.
"No matter what comes our way in the end. If we survive, we find a way to carry on. If only one of us survives, then we go on until our last breath is spent trying to do right."
He reclined beside her and said, "I'm not sure how I'd be able to go on without any of you."
Then I have to find a way to make sure it never comes to that, she thought, and the only idea that came to mind was one she wasn't even sure would work. "Shinji, if there was something I thought I could do…but I needed to do something else first before I could do it…would you be okay with it?"
"I…I guess, but what would it be that you had to do?"
"Nothing I'd probably do right now. Just making sure I knew how you'd feel about it."
She didn't want to lie to him, but what she thought about doing just then might've been the only option they had to protect them the people and the island.
-x-
"…I heard you tried to talk Commander Ikari to call off the ultimatum," Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki spoke to Misato in the hallway of NERV HQ.
"Yes," she answered as she turned to face him. "Unfortunately, I might as well have been talking to a wall. He's unwilling to give up on the Eva or the girl…and is willing to go to the ultimate extreme to get both of them. Worse is he's willing to kill his own son to get the Eva."
"Once he makes a decision, he sticks with it."
"Even if others think it's the wrong decision to be made?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Why is he so obsessed with Unit-01? It's just able to function longer because it consumes Titans and Titan bodies left by the people that can turn into them. What's so special about this Eva that he's willing to go to such lengths to reclaim it?"
"It's the Eva his wife worked on last before she died," Fuyutsuki revealed to her; he might've been unable to disclose the whole truth to why Unit-01 was favored by Gendo, but he could explain some of the truth because it wasn't a complete lie. "He values it above everything else because she worked on it, trying to make it functional."
"That's why he wants it back so much, because his wife worked on it?"
At first, Misato wasn't sure whether or not to believe that Gendo was capable of sentimentalism, but she doubt that was the sole reason. A Titan-empowered Eva seemed more desired than one that had been worked on by a dead relative, even if they were one and the same thing. In addition, what Kaede said to the JSSDF was also true; if they took the Eva from over there, along with her, they'd be taking away their hope, which was all they had at the moment besides more land to inhabit on an island they had been restricted from traversing due to the Titans. And if the ultimatum was carried out, all their hope, along with their lives, would be snuffed out…and all out of one man's spite towards his only son that he himself rejected…and who has rejected what he once did for all of them.
"Do you think he'd do it?" She asked Fuyutsuki. "Would he kill them out of spite towards Shinji, just to hurt him?"
"As I said before, once he makes a decision, he sticks with it," he answered her, meaning that if Gendo was going to have these people his son protected killed, he was going to have them killed.
-x-
Twenty hours remaining. That was how long Shinji had to surrender himself and Kaede to the JSSDF and NERV, but knew that he couldn't. He couldn't without a guarantee that the Eldians of Paradis would be unharmed…and he couldn't hand his girlfriend over to people he didn't trust with her well-being. No matter which choice he made, he felt they were all screwed because of his father and his unwillingness to stop this madness.
"Shit!" Shinji grunted, kicking the Eva in the left leg, venting his frustrations over the situation. "I can't surrender, I can't go back, and I can't protect everyone. What am I gonna do? What am I supposed to do?"
He didn't expect the right answer from anyone, but he would've accepted a response from anyone that was around to listen, but he was all by himself on the deck of the carrier; Kaede had left him to go take care of some things and the rest of the Survey Corps and Garrison had been up to whatever they felt they could do. For the first time in his life here, Shinji felt useless because of factors beyond his ability to find solutions to alleviate.
"What the Hell was I thinking? I mean, what the Hell was I thinking?"
"Hey! Shinji!" He turned around and saw Eren, Armin and Mikasa walking over from around the Eva. "Have you seen Kaede?"
"Uh, no, I haven't seen her since this morning when she said she left to go take care of some things. Why?"
"Her parents contacted Levi and asked if we'd seen her because she didn't go home when she was expected to," Armin explained. "We think she was the one that left out drinks for everyone below the deck in the kitchen when we got up with a note that read, 'Don't give up just yet. The answer is out there, and I'll find it'."
"Why would she do something like that and not tell me?" Shinji wondered. Could this have something to do with what she asked last night?
"Do you have any idea where she could be?" Mikasa asked him.
"No. I mean, we could try the Walls or see if she's with Historia and Ymir, but if she's not with them, I don't know where she could be."
-x-
Shinji had said these were called all-terrain vehicles in his world, but Kaede could care less about the designation right now. All she really cared about right now was that this four-wheeled contraption was faster than she could run at the moment. There was no denying that she might be tried for treason for what she had done prior to leaving the coastal city and returning to Wall Maria, but she had to try something…and she had to have faith in her ability to rectify this situation she and Shinji had gotten into. She didn't want to consider the risks involved, but would have plenty of time to regret her decision when and if she failed.
I can hear them calling me now, she thought, somewhat grateful that the ATV she had taken ran on gas rather than electricity for the time being. I'm a usurper, a thief, and not because I took this vehicle. I know what I have now.
Seeing Wall Maria within her perception now, Kaede sped up faster, determined to find the answer she hoped could save them all.
-x-
"How long do we have until they come back, Shinji?" Levi asked Shinji as he used the Eva to carry the Survey Corps to Wall Maria.
Shinji checked his timer for the ultimatum and answered, "We have thirteen hours left."
"I hope she can explain herself, because only she is capable of doing something like this," Hange expressed, which Shinji cringed in the safety of his plug.
"That's what I'm hoping for, too," he sighed.
-x-
The more time slipped away, the more Gendo wished to proceed with the ultimatum. But he wanted to see Shinji lose everything he had obtained over there, including the trust of the people. He wanted to show him how harsh life was to everyone that didn't understand it, that everything existed only to be taken away in the end.
I'll have you back, Yui, he thought as he sat in his office. He can't keep you from me. Nobody can keep us apart.
Looking at his watch, he saw that only twelve hours remained before the JSSDF dropped over thirty-five N² bombs on that island. Maybe that wouldn't be enough to ravage the whole place, but it'd be enough to devastate any measure of civilization that was present, sending the survivors, if there were any, back to the Stone Age.
When you steal from NERV, you must pay the price, he thought, imagining the horrified look on the Third Child's face as all he held dear was reduced to ashes in the burning wind.
-x-
Sitting in front of Wall Maria's Shiganshina District, Kaede waited for the end of the deadline to come, which was in another eleven hours. She could feel the weight of the fear she had increasing on her conscience, how she felt like the only thing left of Paradis…was the echoes of countless screams.
SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! She heard the thundering footsteps of the Evangelion as she saw it coming to a halt.
"Oh, great," she sighed, seeing several members of the Survey Corps descending from it.
Slam! Eren slammed down in front of her and had a look of rage on his face.
"You care to explain yourself?!" He asked her, brandishing his left hand, revealing a small bite mark on his thumb.
"I did what I had to, Mr. Yeager," she defended.
"You did what you had to?! You didn't even tell Shinji what you were going to do!"
"That's why you had laid out all those cups of water before you left," said Armin in realization. "You didn't know if Eren would get any, so you had to make sure that he did, so that when he did, you'd be far away when it happened."
Kaede nodded that he was right.
"You spiked the water in the cups with your Dark Titan spinal fluid," said Hange as she removed her goggles. "Now your Dark Titan has the Attack and Founding Titans mixed in with the other five of the Nine Titans. Why would you do that, Kaede Sogen? You have no idea what having that many Titans in you could do to you. We don't know what having that many in you could do to you."
"You think I haven't thought it over?" She asked them. "I'm not concerned for myself right now. I'm concerned for all of you. I did what I did so I could try and help Shinji protect all of you because his father can't be trusted, no matter what choice we make."
"Except only a member of the royal bloodline can control the Founder," went Levi to her, "which you are not a part of, whatsoever. What makes you so certain that you can do anything with your Dark Titan having the Founder mixed into it?"
Shinji wasn't sure what Kaede was thinking when she did this, but he was certain she was in her right mind when she did. Maybe it was a sense of desperation, or even a sense of believing in the impossible, but he was hoping that she was now capable of something.
"And you're right, I don't know what having seven of the Nine Titans will do to me," Kaede told them, "but I can regret it later rather than now."
Eren wanted to throttle her for taking the two Titans his father made him possess by eating him, but he kept himself in check; because she was one of Historia's advisers now, Kaede had some degree of protection, but it wasn't absolute.
"Kaede," Shinji spoke through the Eva, "have you tried to change since you got here?"
"I haven't," she answered him.
"Then…you should."
"Are you insane?!" Hange yelled at the boy inside the Eva. "She might not be able to do anything! For all we know, the Founder's abilities may not work for her! This could be all for naught because of her!"
"If nothing happens, then at least we'll know, but if something does happen…I'll be here to make sure it doesn't get out of hand."
Kaede got up and took out a small knife, but she hesitated from using it just yet.
"You should be getting away from me right now," she told them; she couldn't do it until after they moved away from her position.
"Shinji, this is all on you if we lose our lives or our memories!" Eren told the pilot as the Eva carried them a good distance away from the wall.
Kaede then took the knife…and slit the right side of her neck.
"Aaah!" She gasped, feeling the pain only for a moment as she felt the surge of power flow through her. "Aaah!"
FLASH-BOOM! Her transformation rattled the ground and wall as her Dark Titan assumed its height of one-hundred meters (A/N: Cue the Attack on Titan song Vogel im Kafig).
"Rrrrrraurgh!" She shrieked, her face contorting as it failed to assume the facial features it had.
Surrounding its body was a ring of steam and fire emanating from the hairy limbs it gained from the Beast Titan. There were series of cracks in her hardened areas, possibly a combination of the Armored and Female Titans.
"Rraaaurgh!" She continued to shriek, her arms contorting along with her head, snapping this way and that way, as though she was in conflict with herself. "Rrrraah!"
Inside her Titan, wrapped within her subconsciousness, Kaede felt like she was engaged in a battle of wills between herself…and some guy by the name of Kark Fritz, who was telling her that Eldians didn't belong in the world and that they must renounce fighting.
We are sinners, she heard a voice within her say, and we deserve our punishment.
This has nothing to do with the past. She countered his reasoning with her own, trying to stay focused. The ones responsible for whatever happened during that time after you confined as many of your people away have been dead for decades!
It doesn't matter how long we've been this way. My people made the Marleyans suffer without limit. I gave them back their freedom at the cost of the Eldians'. All we can do is enjoy what little peace we have before our time ends.
I can't do that! A life of confinement behind walled structures isn't peace! It's just dying slowly! And…you haven't even seen the people's new hope that gives them reason to believe in life beyond the Walls! I've met him, and he's the living proof that we can leave the Walls, go wherever we want, live however we choose!
Your hope from the sky is a falsehood.
You're wrong! He's not a falsehood! I'll follow him to Hell if I have to because he gave back to us what you took long ago! HE GAVE US BACK OUR FREEDOM!
In front of her, a withered man with long hair and a beard stood, cradling an infant in his arms. Behind him was a thirteen-meter Titan with a similar withered form, with long, skeletal arms and thin torso, thick legs and long hair. Behind herself was her Dark Titan, accompanied by the seven Titans she had taken into herself, each with their hands placed atop her shoulders (A/N: Cue Audiomachine music Wounded Heart), their faces obscured by her dark hair.
Never before had I ever met anyone outside of my family that stood up to me as greatly as you did, his voice was heard in her head, and your Titan… It must be due to a greater force at work that it's able to withstand all that happens to it, including the accumulation of different Titans and their abilities. And…it's not bound by the Curse of Ymir. You have their strengths…and none of their weaknesses. Who are you?
My name is Kaede Sogen. My Titan is called the Dark Titan. It used to be my curse…but now is my blessing because of my boyfriend, everyone's hope from the sky.
The Titans were never meant to be a curse. But I always viewed them a curse because of what my ancestors did with them. I just wanted this cruelty to end.
But you didn't end the cruelty. If anything, you reversed it, oppressed your own people out of guilt and spite towards what they did. But as I said before, the ones responsible have been dead for a long time. Just because they did wrong doesn't mean that those that had nothing to do with their choices that are alive today should have to pay for their mistakes. It's just cruel and wrong to do such a thing to people that did nothing to deserve it. And there's no such peace without freedom to choose whether to accept it or not…and punish those that don't want that type of peace. We can't live that way.
If the Marleyans do come for you, you can't defend against them. This was my intended destiny for all that remains of Eldia.
Why couldn't you try to absolve things with them peacefully? You were the king during your time, so you had the power and authority to seek balance with Marley. Instead, you let them become the very tyrants you saw your own people as. Like how my step-grandfather is to me…and how the father of my boyfriend is to him.
Why would the father of Eldia's hope from the sky be a tyrant towards him?
His father made him use a large weapon to fight creatures he knew nothing of ever since they met some time ago, and now he uses the weapon to protect us from the Titans, and now Marley. He never gave him a choice, and when he ended up here and chose to protect us, to fight for us, his father resented his decision and wanted him to return with his weapon…but his son refused…and now his father wants to kill all Eldians on the island. This has nothing to do with Marley right now. It has to do with my boyfriend's father, who's willing to kill us all just to hurt his only son, who doesn't want to do as he demands, no matter what happens.
A father isn't supposed to be this way towards their children. This man you say is like a tyrant towards him, he dishonors all that his son is and could be.
How can you know this?
Karl looked down at the infant in his arms, a mere echo of the life he once had when he was truly alive and not so much an echo of his former self.
All fathers are supposed to care for their children, he told her, and those who do not…do not deserve them…and tarnishes their future by giving them nothing but pain and misery.
Well, that's what he's going to do, but he's going to hurt everyone else to do so. I need to help him protect everyone, and this is why I need the power of the Founder. Not to contend with the Marleyans at the moment, but to save the Eldians from another threat that means to harm them.
Then…you know what must be done. Something about your Dark Titan has strengthened your conviction to do as you will…and overcome my renouncement towards war. You may not be of royal blood, but something in you makes up for it. From this day forward, the Founding Titan is yours to command.
He turned to walk away, but Kaede still needed to know something that could help in the future.
Wait, Mr. Fritz, there's something I need to know! It's about your ancestress, Ymir Fritz! She yelled out to him, stopping him. Please… How is it that the Titans exist because of her? Why do they exist because of her? I've only heard two different versions of her history recently, but you know which is true and what isn't. Please…did she really discover something that gave her the power of the Titans…or are they just the work of a demon?
Karl looked at her, just as his Founding Titan form began to crack and fracture all over.
My ancestress, Ymir Fritz…discovered something deep in the Earth that only the most lucky…or unluckiest of people are fortunate enough to find…and receive power beyond anything comprehensible. This power, a source that connects all things and people, granted her the ability to accomplish many wonders. But for her, it came at the horrible price of a reduced life the more she used it. She knew she would die, but she accepted her fate…because she knew her soul would continue to live on in another form. Upon her last breath of life, her essence fractured into the nine beings that would carry on her legacy and power throughout Eldian history.
The Nine Titans.
Yes, the Nine Titans, each a different part of her and representing her. The Founding Titan, which represents how she was the first to become a Titan and the eternal foundation for Eldian generations to come. The Female Titan, which represents Ymir as a woman that had ascended to power in full bloom of her beauty, who carries that power that balances men and women. The Beast Titan, which represents her primal emotions and how she would use force only when necessary to help others. The Attack Titan, serving as Ymir's promise to maintain the freedom of Eldia so that nobody she devoted her life to was a prisoner. The Colossal Titan, serving as Ymir's symbol of how even the biggest of things can come from the tiniest of people's hearts. The Jaw Titan, because Ymir once said that in order to survive, we must use our hands and teeth to bite the apple we grasp. The Armored Titan, Ymir's living shield that would defend her people against harm. The Cart Titan, because we will always need the aid of others to carry the weight we could never carry on our own. And finally, the War Hammer Titan, Ymir's sword of absolute last resort against any that would harm Eldia. The Nine Titans of Ymir, also known as the Nine Titans of Eldia. Individually, any one of them is capable of overcoming a small number of foes and accomplishing great wonders, but altogether, they are Ymir's soul incarnate, working to bestow upon Eldia great prosperity and solidifying its place in the world.
The head of his Titan began to fall off…and Kaede knew everything she needed to know from this man.
Thank you, Karl Fritz…and goodbye, she bowed her head as he vanished from existence.
-x-
She had ceased her inane shrieking and the steam emissions had also stopped. Slowly, her Titan rose up to its incredible height that made the Colossal Titan seem like a teen. Her face had finally regenerated its proper features and her body had gained a new one: The muscle tone in its arms and legs had become thicker beneath the armored portions, possibly indicating that the Attack Titan had now influenced the form of the Dark Titan. Opening her mouth, she let out more steam that heated the cold air for a brief while.
"Kaede?" Shinji asked, worried that she might've been under the influence of the First King's ideology now. "Are you…you?"
She turned to face his Eva…and raised her right hand, forming a gesture that spoke volumes. Her thumb and index finger formed a circle while her remaining three fingers were outstretched. The mouth of her Titan pulled back its lips to form a smile.
"She's okay," he expressed.
"I now…have dominion…over the Founder," her Titan uttered. "I know what to do."
-x-
"…Well, this is good news," said Misato as she got off the phone with a member of the JSSDF in Central Dogma. "One of the JSSDF recovery teams was able to locate and salvage the Unit-02 core intact. They're bringing it back before the ultimatum deadline."
"Has any progress been made with Commander Ikari's attempt to force his son to surrender himself and his girlfriend to NERV?" Kaji asked her.
"Unfortunately, nothing has changed with that. And personally, I don't expect Shinji to just hand over his girlfriend to his father. If he'd rather die trying to protect these people he has sworn his loyalty to…who are we to make trouble for him? I'd call off the strike if I had the authority."
"You're not the only one, Major Katsuragi," went Fuyutsuki behind her.
"Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, sir," she turned and greeted.
"At ease, ma'am. I think we can all agree that Ikari has gone too far."
"Well, in the next six hours, it won't matter," Kaji reminded them; six more hours before more than thirty-five N² bombs were dropped onto an island and it was reduced to a crater where no trace of civilization once resided.
"I put in a formal request to cancel the strike based on professional ethics. We're threatening to harm a nation that doesn't belong to this world because a fourteen-year-old boy that was forced to pilot the Eva by his father doesn't want to leave them helpless or at all and his father is obsessed with repossessing the cybernetic weapon that he unintentionally took with him during an incident here, along with wanting to enforce attempted kidnapping on his son's girlfriend. But I don't expect the Committee to act until after the bombs are dropped."
Shinji, whatever you're doing right now, I hope it's to help the people on that island, Misato thought, really hoping that the boy was looking for a way to protect the people.
-x-
This was a power that even Eren Yeager hadn't believed he was capable of when he realized his father made him eat him to gain the two Titans he had, but was something Kaede was putting to use with the full power of the Founding Titan at her disposal. Her screaming was more potent, much louder than his own (A/N: Think of Gamera's roaring towards the end of the film Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion when he fought Legion and used the planet's mana to win). Through her screams, the Titans within the Walls awoke and broke out, acting more like they were restless rather than weakened from the lack of sunlight.
Shinji was both amazed and terrified by this new power Kaede now had. Each of the Wall Titans were fifty meters in height and were as skinless as the Colossal Titan had been, but began using their hardening abilities to create armored sections on their torsos, arms and legs, making them look like macabre versions of the Armored Titan made larger and more cumbersome in a way.
"Rrrrrrrraaaurgh!" The Dark Titan screamed again, and the Wall Titans began to spread out across the land. "We…need to go…to the carrier now."
"What did you tell them?" Shinji asked her.
"Spread across island…avoid the settlements…harden their hands and feet as much as possible…and wait for my order."
"We need to let Historia know first so as to not excite a panic, even if the Titans do avoid the towns and villages."
The Dark Titan nodded in agreement.
-x-
The children were afraid of the Titans as they passed by the village, but Historia assured them that they were ignoring them and the buildings. They even ignored the Eva as it arrived with the Dark Titan and Survey Corps. The Eva knelt down alongside the Dark Titan and Eren, Armin and Mikasa swung down from them.
"What's going on with these Titans?" She asked them. "Why are they out of the Walls and walking around?"
"They're under Kaede's control now," Eren explained, still somewhat angry over the girl's deception towards him. "She took the Attack and Founding Titans from me to try something risky and dangerous."
"She took them from you? How'd she take them from you?"
"She spiked everyone's water with her spinal fluid," Mikasa stated.
"And she's really in control? She's not being influenced by the First King's ideology?"
"I think if she were being controlled by the First King," went Shinji inside the Eva to Historia, "she wouldn't have the Titans that made up the Walls come out and walk around the ground to cover the island. This is all Kaede's doing. Somehow, she overpowered the will of Karl Fritz and assumed control of the Founder."
Historia looked up at the Dark Titan, not believing that Kaede Sogen, an Eldian girl of low birth, with no claim to anything, had done what nobody in her family had been able to do because of Karl Fritz's vow to renounce war. Even if she had five of the other Titans merged into her Titan, controlling the Founder was like trying to control an earthquake, or a storm. But she was watching the Titans walk past her, ignoring the people and buildings, as if under the influence of a new will. This time, they were doing more than just acting as a trio of useless barriers from the outside world. Now, they were helping to protect the people from a threat from the sky.
"We'll talk about this later, if we have later to talk about this," Historia informed them.
The Dark Titan nodded in understanding; whatever punishment was awaiting her at the end of this road, she would take it.
-x-
As the sun shone brightly in the sky, the VTOL aircraft of the JSSDF returned to Paradis and were frightened by the sight before them on the surface of the island.
"What the Hell is this?" One of the pilots questioned, seeing Unit-01 along with what had to be tens of thousands of Titans spread out across the coast, throughout the city and most likely across the inner lands.
"Someone, get in contact with NERV HQ," another pilot ordered.
-x-
"…How in Himmel is this possible?!" Asuka gasped, seeing so many Titans dotting the island. "What, did all of those people turn themselves into Titans?!"
"Maybe a bunch of volunteers," went Kaji, "but I doubt everyone was turned."
Then, on the screens, Central Dogma saw Unit-01 raise something up into the air. It was a large flag with the wing symbol that had been painted on its arms.
"Is he trying to surrender?" Ritsuko questioned.
"No," uttered Fuyutsuki, "he's trying to wave off the N² strike. He doesn't want to do what he'll have to if it means protecting them."
"Uh, we're getting an open channel from Unit-01," said Maya to them. "Should I open our end?"
"No," Gendo stated; he didn't want to hear whatever the Third Child had to say.
"Open the link," Misato told the female Bridge Bunny, defying Gendo's order; she wanted to hear whatever it was Shinji had to say.
Maya followed Misato's order and opened the link.
"Shinji," Misato spoke.
"I'm only going to ask once," they all heard the Third Child's voice. "Please, call off the N² strike…or the Titans will strike back the second the bombs are let loose."
"Shinji…are you controlling them?"
"No. These Titans obey the queen. I have no say. If you strike first, I can't and won't call them off if they retaliate. I don't want for there to be any casualties."
"You can't possibly think they can help you stop the strike," said Gendo, making it clear that he wasn't going to call off the strike because his son begged them to. "Surrender…or watch the people you protect burn to ash."
"Father…you and I both know that that's not going to happen. This island has become my home, and, if need be, it will be my grave. You wanna talk deals or negotiations, you gotta speak with the queen…but you won't…because you don't want to make deals or negotiate. If you do this, you're asking for all of Eldia to despise you for what you can't have."
"If you even get dragged back, I will have you locked away."
"And if you ever come here, I'd sooner see you locked away than in the same room with anyone I work with."
Fuyutsuki and Misato turned to face Gendo, whose face had lost any semblance of emotionless and displayed rage.
"Drop the bombs," he ordered the JSSDF.
"No," Misato sighed, looking back at the screens.
-x-
Some of the pilots of the aircraft looked at Unit-01 and the Titans…and hesitated from carrying out the strike. It wasn't so much fear of them retaliating in self-defense as it was the very idea that they'd be killing someone that was just trying to protect a bunch of people he had no relation to or any affiliation with. And the fact that these Titans were working alongside the Eva made it seem almost invincible with an army.
"We can't do this," one of the pilots of the aircraft uttered. "They're not at war with us!"
"This is NERV's mess!" Another pilot yelled. "I'm not getting killed for some bullshit started by some kid's crazy father!"
"I'm not doing this, y'all! I'm calling off the strike! Abort mission! I repeat, abort mission!" The next pilot ordered, and the aircraft all backed away.
"What are you doing?!" They all heard Gendo yell at them. "Drop the N² bombs! Do your job!"
"You want to drop bombs on an island full of people and giants because your son doesn't want to come back to do your dirty work, you fly one of these jets!" A pilot shouted back at him.
As they flew away from the scene, Shinji felt like he could breathe a sigh of relief.
The Dark Titan on Unit-01's left side began to emit steam as Kaede felt the Titan body was beginning to lose its strength.
"This body's done," she spoke through her Titan's mouth.
Shinji helped the Titan lower to the ground beside the water and watched as Kaede emerged from the nape.
"Aah!" The girl exhaled as she breathed through her lungs again. "Did we do it, Shinji?"
"Yeah, Kaede, we did it," Shinji responded, but had a feeling that his father wouldn't give up just yet.
-x-
Ring-ring-ring! Gendo's office phone rang, and he answered it.
"Yes?" He asked whoever was on the other end.
"Ikari, we've heard about your usage of the JSSDF in a botched attempt to repossess Unit-01 and acquire a girl that the Third Child is involved with," the voice of Kiel Lorenz uttered on the other end. "You were about to instigate a war with an unaffiliated nation to get it and its defected pilot back while kidnapping a girl that would be useless to our cause. Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki has confided within the Committee of your attempt and this all stops now."
"Unit-01 is the only Eva that has an extended power source because of the Titans, and we need to know how."
"The Eva ate them. How hard is it to make the ones here do the same? Work on that. For now and until further notice, anything relating to Unit-01 and the Third Child and traveling back and forth between two dimensions is hereby suspended indefinitely."
He didn't like the order, but with his actions now being monitored, Gendo had no choice to suspend his plans to recapture Unit-01 and acquire the girl. As he hung up, he couldn't begin to fathom Fuyutsuki's foolishness in alerting the Committee to his attempts. And the JSSDF's uselessness in installing the fear of failure in the boy if he didn't surrender was another issue that made any future attempts problematic.
Damn you, you petulant brat, he thought, swearing unto himself that he wasn't done with his son or these worthless people he chose over the ones he lived and worked with.
-x-
It was somewhat frightening to see dozens of Titans that used to make up and be within the Walls suddenly spread across the whole island, standing still, ignoring the people at the base of their feet. But Historia found it puzzling that Kaede had taken control of them through the Founding Titan, and here she was, kneeling in front of her with Shinji, surrounded by the Survey Corps and Garrison.
"Explain your actions, Kaede Sogen," she told the girl.
"After Shinji Ikari's father had these men affiliated with this JSSDF deliver the ultimatum to have the both of us surrender or they would endanger the lives of everyone on the island, I decided to do something reckless," Kaede explained her actions, "and I believed that using the Titans inside the Walls was the best option in the forty-eight hours we had to respond. But I needed the aid of the Founding Titan to do this. However, to use the Founder required your presence and Eren Yeager, and I wasn't going to endanger you…so I decided to do it on my own. I spiked the water of the Survey Corps with my spinal fluid so that when Eren drank it, he would lose both the Attack and Founding Titans to my Dark Titan. I went to Wall Maria and waited there to see how long it would be before anything happened. When Shinji and the Survey Corps arrived, that's when I knew my plan's first half had succeeded. I transformed…and fought for control over the Founder."
"And…you didn't tell Shinji what you were going to do? You didn't tell him anything?"
"No, ma'am, I didn't tell him what I had planned to do. I kept him out of the loop to protect him from the potential fallout."
"And…we're to understand you were able to defeat the will of the First King who kept the power of the Founder from being used to benefit Eldia?"
"Yes…and his will has been removed from the Founder, usurped by the Dark Titan. Now, everything the Founder was said to be capable of is exploitable by the Dark Titan. Also, I now know the names of the two remaining Titans that were made from Ymir Fritz's passing."
"Is that so?" Historia responded as several members of the Survey Corps gasped. "Who are they called, Ms. Sogen?"
"They are the Cart and War Hammer Titans, the last of the Nine Titans of Ymir."
"You were able to obtain this information from possessing the Founder?"
"Yes."
"And…just to speculate, Ms. Sogen, if you're now able to use the power of the Founding Titan, I must know…what is to keep you from abusing the power of the Founder for your own purposes?"
Kaede looked up at her, at Shinji and Ymir, the Survey Corps and Garrison, and answered, "I swore my loyalty to you and the people of Eldia, Your Majesty. I have neither reason nor desire to abuse the power of the Founder that would, in any way, impede the progress of the people, the Garrison or Survey Corps. Even if I wanted to, I can't go against my conscience to do right by the people."
Basically, Kaede wasn't ruled by the ideology of the First King or a need for power and control. The girl was ruled by her emotions and unwillingness to control those around her. And her newfound power couldn't affect non-Subjects of Ymir, including Shinji, and she wouldn't echo the choices of those that had the Founder before her and Eren Yeager did.
Historia would be forever grateful to Kaede for taking the Founding Titan from the royal family, permanently freeing her from a dark fate that could've happened, but she had to ensure the safety of the people from someone that had possession of said Titan.
"While your actions aided in the safety of the island and people," she told her, "your actions were also meant to deceive those around you, Ms. Sogen. For now, you are to be incarcerated within the dungeons…for a period not to exceed two months. After which, you will be free to resume your day-to-day activities."
It seemed like a medium-light punishment, but Historia didn't want to stop trusting Kaede simply because she, more or less, had stolen her family's Titan from the son of a man that had stolen it first to try and free the people from Marley. So long as she could still trust her honesty, she was willing to be lenient with her choices…and because she was hoping that Kaede could do something for her that would be personal for her later on.
Shinji, while against incarcerating Kaede, wouldn't fight Historia over this decision. All he could do for now…is to try and be with Kaede for as much as possible until her sentence had been served and she would walk a free woman once more.
-x-
"…I heard Asuka was pleased to be piloting Unit-03 until Unit-02 was rebuilt from scratch," Ritsuko told Misato later that evening in the hallways of NERV HQ.
"Yes," she responded. "Unfortunately, she won't pilot Unit-03 unless it's repainted red. Since it'll take two-three months to build another version from the old design schematics and only four hours to spray paint an entire Eva, it'll be easier to temporarily repaint Unit-03 until Unit-02 has been rebuilt."
"That's assuming the next Angel even shows up."
"You don't think it will?"
"After discovering that what was perhaps the strongest one to appear chose to attack the island Unit-01 was on, and watching it get taken down by a Titan-empowered Eva and a girl that can become an Eva-sized Titan, some of the people here have doubts that the next Angel will ever show up. They're hoping it doesn't show up."
For Shinji's sake, I hope no more Angels show up myself, she desired, and NERV leaves him alone for now.
-x-
"Kaede, are you alright?" Christine asked her daughter as she came down into the dungeons to see her with Shinji and Sig.
"I'm fine, Mother," Kaede answered her, sitting at a desk in her cell; according to Ymir, her cell was actually the most comfortable. "Are you two alright?"
"We're fine," Sig assured her. "You gave us quite a scare when we found out you added two more Titans to what you're capable of."
"I won't lie to you, but I scared myself when I fought the will of the First King. He was strong, but I kept thinking about each of you, about why I wanted control over the Founder. It wasn't about dealing with Marley. It was only about protecting you from the ultimatum that was made if Shinji and I didn't hand ourselves over to his father."
"In the end, even though it was through intimidation, you saved everyone," Shinji stated; his girlfriend deserved full credit for doing what he couldn't, and drove a portion of an army loyal to the Japanese away, something he couldn't even see himself doing unless he gave into his more negative or darker impulses. "Hopefully, people will be talking about this due to the Titans now standing around throughout the island as watchmen or guards."
"You mean the Titans are still just standing around like I told them to?"
"Levi and the Survey Corps flew up to their heads a few times after you were brought here, and they just ignored them. What was said about the Founding Titan being to control the behavior of Titans among other abilities, they're definitely true. You told them to do only what you wanted because we were expecting bombs to be dropped. That hasn't happened yet, so…they're still waiting for you to tell them what to do."
"Well, they're going to have to for sixty days to hear what to do from me."
"We'll be here to see you every day, Kaede," Christine told her daughter, reaching through the bars with her left hand for her.
Kaede got up and walked over to the bars and held her mother's hand.
"Thank you," she praised her.
"You're a hero, girl," Sig expressed, putting his right hand through the bars to place it on his stepdaughter's left shoulder.
Shinji would've kissed her, but he was embarrassed to do so. Instead, he just smiled at her. He promised himself that he would kiss her when the opportunity presented itself…and with her permission because he didn't want to cross lines and upset her. There was something about this moment, though, that had him imagining something that was just random in his mind now.
It was a small fantasy he had of her standing in a vast, grassy field at night, and the sky was lit up in a beautiful display of wispy clouds that seemed too high up and ablaze in white, blue and green lights. She turned to face him, wearing her regular outfit, the one he saw her wearing when they first met that night in Shiganshina, and she offered her right hand to him as he stood in front of her.
It's not a bad fantasy, Shinji, he thought he heard Kaede's voice in his head, and saw her turn away to return to her desk as her parents left the dungeon. It's pretty. Very pretty.
"Uh, Kaede?" He asked her, and she turned to face him. "What are you thinking about?"
"Right now? The night, on a grassy field, with the sky decorated in pretty lights."
"That's…exactly what I was thinking."
"I know it's what you were thinking (she looked away from him, as if saddened by something). I don't know how…but I just felt what you were thinking. Maybe it's just a side-effect of my having the Founder, but it feels a little nice to know what you're thinking, even though it feels like a violation of privacy."
"If it's you…it's okay. I'll be back tomorrow to see you."
"Thank you."
Shinji, however, didn't leave just yet. He still stood in front of the bars that separated them.
"Shinji?" She questioned.
"I love you, Kaede," he uttered.
"I love you, too, Shinji."
To be continued…
A/N: Something about Kaede's Dark Titan has enabled her to progress further in both power and adaptation. With seven out of the Nine Titans in her possession, who knows what may happen if she gets the other two left. Gendo got screwed! Eren is no longer under the Curse of Ymir! What could Historia want from Kaede?
Omake (What could've happened)
"Drop the bombs," Gendo ordered the JSSDF.
"No," Misato sighed, looking at the screens.
The VTOL aircraft dropped one of the N² bombs aimed toward island.
"Rrrraurgh!" The Dark Titan roared, and one of the fifty-meter Titans beside Unit-01 hurled something that, apparently, came off its left arm at the bomb.
It looked like some sort of wad. When it made contact with the N² bomb, it covered it and was sent flying back towards the plane that launched it.
SMASH! It collided with the ship and exploded in a large display.
The rest of the aircraft targeted the island and released their payload of N² bombs.
Shinji, within Unit-01, spread his AT-Field at full power, just as the Dark Titan and the other Titans outstretched their arms and looked like crosses. Somehow, his AT-Field extended through them and was being augmented until it enveloped as much of the island as the Titans were spread across to cover every inch.
The people on the streets and inside the buildings of the coastal city took cover and closed their eyes to shield them from the flash.
BOOM! The bombs collided with the super AT-Field as the Titans all stood their ground.
It all lasted for a full minute, but when the light dimmed, the remaining aircraft saw the only harm they even came close to causing was Unit-01 losing half its helmet's horn decoration…and none of the Titans were injured due to this harden flesh taking the full brunt of the damage.
"Grrr," the Dark Titan growled.
"That was all the N² bombs we had," one of the pilots announced, "and they're still standing."
"And they're pissed," another pilot added.
The Dark Titan then raised its left hand as something formed in its palm.
"I must do what he can't," it spoke in a female voice, and threw it towards them.
SMASH! It struck one of the planes and it smashed into another one on its right side.
"Quick! Retreat! Fall back!" Another of the remaining pilots yelled, and they took off.